Tennessee guide Rick McFerrin is usually seen hanging out on Tims Ford but recently he has been making the headwaters of Guntersville Lake just below Nick A Jack Dam his home-away-from-home, and for good reason.
Rick and his guests have been regularly boating bass in the three to six pound range. What, is this still January.
On January 5 Rick fished below Nick A Jack with friend Jerry Steakly and had his first encounter with what he called the “Alabama/Tennessee Rig.”
Rick and Jerry caught, they figured about 100 bass using VMC 1/4 ounce Smoochin Jig Heads and a couple different swimbait bodies including a Storm WildEye Shad. Rick said they all seemed to work at least today. One tip was to make your center swimbait larger than the others as this makes a huge difference. Another tip Rick picked-up on this trip was to watch your electronics and stay in the baitfish.
Doug Markham teamed-up with Rick for a return to the “hole” on the 17th. The pair were throwing a Real Bait Company three wire Tennessee Rig. Those familiar with the Andy Poss Alabama Rig know the set-up consists of a head and five wires. The rigs were baited with Storm WildEye Shad swimbaits as before- a bigger one in the middle. One of the tactics used was slow trolling the rig about one MPH using the trolling motor.
For what could be one of those lifetime trips, Rick and Doug caught and released approximately 70 lbs. of largemouth bass with their best five weighing in at 37 lbs. The big fish of the day weighed 10 lbs., 12 oz. Not a bad day of fishing. Rick said he had not caught one that big in a long time. And the last one that big was down in Florida. The big fish was photographed, measured and released alive.
The trip with the 10-12 is all on video and you can view it at: https://www.facebook.com/people/Doug…type=2&theater.
While 85 lb. braid is not uncommon for fishing the Alabama Rig, Rick uses 65 lb. test Sufix 832 Braid on the Tennessee Rig. McFerrin admitted, that while he really enjoyed catching all the big fish with the rig and heavy braided line, he was more of a 6 lb. test
light line guy.
Wonder how that 6 lb. line would have fared with that 10-12…
Thanks to Rick for all the trip info and the photos. His website is: http://www.tennesseebassguides.com
